Review: '2 Valid IDs' Falls Short of The Reprieve It Built

*This piece contains major spoilers for 2 Valid IDs

In the final scene inside the remittance center, the sleeper hit 2 Valid IDs experiences an identity crisis. When it looked like Sylvia would finally get what she’s been struggling for—the money to afford her husband proper medical care—the world pulled the rug under her feet. A film that’s been delicate in showing compassion turns quickly to the trappings of misery porn in its last minutes.

This is my disappointment for the film.

But we’re skipping to the end. How did 2 Valid IDs arrive here? Common folk populate the film. Province-born Sylvia and her husband Ramon have been in Manila for a month as the latter receives hospital care. They need money to transfer Ramon to a semi-private hospital where his needs can be better met. The money is not the problem; Ramon’s aunt has already sent them a huge amount. The problem is how Sylvia would receive it. 

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Sylvia learns she needs two valid IDs to do so. Then follows her journey through the hell of bureaucracy. There’s a sermonic on-the-nose scene where the couple and their friends ponder how they never knew the importance of such IDs, for they never needed them in the province. Frankly, this scene feels a bit condescending both to the people these characters represent and to the audience who the text thinks need spoon-feeding.

And yet, to say I disliked Ma-an Asuncion-Dagñalan’s 2 Valid IDs is inaccurate. Marietta Subong, famously known as Pokwang, played Sylvia in a poignant, remarkable effort reminiscent of Sonya in Oda sa Wala (2018, dir. Dwein Baltazar). Cinematographer Neil Daza shot his scenes, drenched in warm tones evoking the sultry climate, tight in a way to make Manila a suffocating hellhole. And it must be said that the whole ensemble does their parts well, as I think the beauty of the film shines through them. 

From the impressive opening one-shot long take, the film shows us how interconnected we are to each other. That connection is sustained throughout the film. Yes, the system is unbearable, and it works against the people. But the genuine care the film’s characters give to all show us that a cinematic tradition of a dog-eat-dog world isn’t fundamental. It is shown through Mercy (Meryll Soriano) and Omar (Joem Bascon) as they assist and accompany Sylvia in applying for her IDs; through Ramon (Joey Marquez) and his devotion to his wife, as she is equally devoted to him; and through various unnamed characters in the background as they battle through their own hardships without forgetting to help those battling theirs.

Zaijian Jaranilla as Denver is the MVP. The film’s best scene for me is when, after his grandfather passed away without him at his side, Denver still chose to be kind to Sylvia, who is an indirect cause of his absence. He gives Sylvia back Ramon’s wedding ring, which Ramon urged him to pawn. That unbeknownst to Ramon, Denver took money from his own pocket and gave it to Ramon to avoid pawning such sentimental items.

Films can carry and throw heavy themes at us without resorting to pessimism. Recent films this year, like Status: Rejected (Vahn Leinard Pascual) and Mono No Aware (BC Amparado), exude this imagination.

2. Valid IDs build such imagination in its foundation only to blindside the audience with Ramon’s death. Or a solipsist fit of rage uncharacteristic of Sylvia. This is why the ending is such a betrayal. Like a god dictating events, the film turns unneedingly cruel to its own characters. Yes, it achieved the intended effect of making us cry. But in resorting to the finality of death, what else did the film lose? The ability to hope for a better outcome? Are we that paralyzed, that knee-deep in despair, to allow each other one happy ending?

The ending is not a misguided choice per se. Melodrama is traditionally used in Philippine cinema to hammer home the point of social realist films, especially inside Cinemalaya, where films like Pamilya Ordinaryo (2016, dir. Eduardo Roy Jr.) and John Denver Trending (2019, dir. Arden Rod Condez) are lauded. It’s that the film opted for a limited, oft-tread worldview where suffering is inevitable when the inverse—one I’d argue would make for a more moving ending—is as easy to imagine. What’s worse, an unnecessary, dragging post-credits scene expands and doubles down on this spectacle of grief.

This criticism wouldn’t take away from the staggering box-office success Asuncion-Dagñalan’s 2 Valid IDs garnered. Nor the fact that the film led to the government banning the requirement of two valid IDs for transactions. However the ending goes, the message and real-world impact still stand. In this regard, maybe discussions in aesthetics (in the face of practicality) are already moot. Yet as far as the craft goes, I insist. A lot of films do not earn their happy endings, and opting for such induces its unique frustrations. 2 valid IDs deserve it, at least for the couple Sylvia and Ramon.

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